


Intwine

by minikawa



Category: Vinland Saga (Anime), Vinland Saga (Manga)
Genre: Banter, Drabble, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Hair Braiding, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, dangerous murderous viking lads being cute, i know askeladd and bjorn are complete bastards but i just wanna write them having a soft moment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2021-01-20 22:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21289355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minikawa/pseuds/minikawa
Summary: On a peaceful afternoon by the lake, Askeladd surprises Bjorn with a secret skill of his.
Relationships: Askeladd/Bjorn (Vinland Saga)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 73





	Intwine

“Wait...are you braiding my hair?”

“No, I’m scalping you. What do you think I’m doing, you oaf?”

Bjorn blinked, rubbing the grogginess from his eyes. He had dozed off again it seems. Today had been one of those rare afternoons when he didn’t need to worry about lopping heads off of enemies or marching through unruly terrain until his feet felt numb. While the rest of the crew were either drinking the afternoon away or simply resting from yet another exhausting week, Askeladd and Bjorn had wandered away from the village for some surveillance. 

A handful of the crew knew that was absolute bullshit, but they were wise enough not to talk about it within the captain’s earshot. 

Bjorn yawned. He blinked away the remaining sleepiness, squinting against the sun’s light as he gazed ahead at the idyll blue lake ahead of him. He felt the gentle yet firm tug and pull of fingers intertwining within his thick brown hair. 

“How long have I been out?”

“No less than two hours,” said Askeladd, who was seated on a log behind him. “It appears you have better stamina in battle than in the bedroom.” 

Bjorn snorted and shot him a half-hearted glare. Askeladd snickered. 

“Anyways, with you snoring like a bear I got bored. And well...your bird’s nest of a head needed some maintenance.” 

Well, Bjorn couldn’t disagree with that, not that he cared too much about his own vanity. “Hmph. Then you must have some pretty low standards in bedding partners, Askeladd.” 

It was Askeladd’s turn to scoff. He gave his second-in-command a playful punch to the shoulder before resuming his braiding. Bjorn sighed deeply, leaning into Askeladd’s touch. Bjorn had followed his captain for decades now—countless battles had been fought together, as well as secret intimate rendezvous in between. Still, it never ceased to amaze the warrior just how gentle Askeladd could be. 

He wondered whether Askeladd had shared this side with anyone else in his life. 

(Or maybe, the tiny dumb selfish part of Bjorn wondered, this side of Askeladd was reserved just for him-?)

“Finished. Finally,” Askeladd’s hands withdrew from Bjorn’s hair (Bjorn hoped his disappointment didn’t show. He already had begun to miss the sensation of his hair being braided). “With an unruly mop like yours, I thought this would take an entire century.”

Bjorn reached up and carefully ran his fingers along the thick, firmly woven plait that Askeladd had made of his hair. The strands had been intertwined so intricately and delicately, culminating into a fishtail braid that cascaded over his shoulder. 

To say Bjorn was impressed would be a laughable understatement. 

He wanted to ask where Askeladd had learned such a skill, but he already knew how his captain would respond: with a snarky remark or silence. Askeladd was a man of secrets after all. 

“I’m amazed,” Bjorn said, after a good five minutes of admiring Askeladd’s handy work, “that you know a skill  _ other  _ than killing and bossing us around.”

Askeladd laughed. “I’m just as amazed that our prized berserker can pull off a braid just as well as any other village maiden. Maybe even better.”

Bjorn rolled his eyes. Later that evening, Bjorn kept the braid intact as they returned to the village. He wasn’t surprised at the rest of the crew for staring. Oddly enough, Bjorn didn’t mind. The foolish few that had the audacity of hollering and whistling in his direction were swiftly met with his fist. 

He made a mental note to ask Askeladd to show him how he did it sometime soon. 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a sentence starter post from Tumblr! This one to be exact: https://minikawa.tumblr.com/post/188774722659/physical-contact-starters
> 
> Sorry if this is kinda ooc, but I'm just a simple lad who likes to write self indulgent fluff about murderous vikings being cute okay


End file.
